THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING.
Still with me? Okay, let's get to it.
Thanos and the Infinty Gauntlet!
If you stayed around through the credits, about midway there was a quick scene with Thanos ( voiced by Josh Brolin ). He puts on what's known as the "Infinity Gauntlet" and says "Fine, I'll do it myself".
Seems to be the Marvel films' "big bad" is about to get his hands dirty. He was teased in a mid credits scene in the first Avengers movie, showing he was responsible for providing Loki with an army and that sceptor (or glow stick of destiny as Iron Man called it). Thanos also made a brief appearance in last year's Guardians of the Galaxy, tasking that movie's villain (Ronan) with finding an orb, which ended up holding one of the Infinity Gems. Not familiar with the Infinity Gems? Let me help you with that...
These gems all fit into the Infinity Gauntlet, giving the bearer of the glove essentially limitless power. As you can see on the picture above, two gems are unaccounted for in the Marvel movies. We're sure to see these introduced in next year's Doctor Strange, 2017's Thor: Ragnorak, or Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 in 2018.
So there's a quick rundown of the Infinity Gauntlet and Thanos. Until more details are officially announced or revealed in future movies, anything more would be strictly speculation.
Now onto the new line up of the Avengers at the end of the movie and next year's Captain America: Civil War.
New Avengers and Civil War!
The final scene before the credits rolled showed a new team going forward. Captain America and Black Widow will need some help with 4 Avengers bowing out at the end of the movie. Tony Stark takes a leave of absence, Hawkeye takes off to be a dad, Thor returns to Asgard, and Hulk goes into hiding. So now we got a new line up.
Heading up the team is Captain America, with Black Widow seeming to serve as his right hand woman. War Machine (from the Iron Man movies) and Falcon (introduced in last year's Captain America: Civil War) finally get promoted to the big leagues. As well as Scarlet Witch and Vision who both made their debut in Age of Ultron.
Who knows how long this line up will remain. Next year, heroes will be facing off against one another in Captain America: Civil War. And we'll be introduced to several other Avengers in the next few years; Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, and some guy named Spider-Man. Also, don't rule out veteran Avengers like Iron Man or Hawkeye getting called back into the ring at any time.
Avengers Potpourri
A few random notes to close this out ...
Did you catch Sam "Falcon" Wilson's mention of a "missing person case"? No doubt a nod to Cap and Falcon looking for Bucky/Winter Soldier. Marvel hasn't forgotten about him, and he's confirmed to be in Civil War next year.
And we can't finish without mention of Pietro "Quicksilver" Maximoff. We hardly knew thee.
It seems odd for Marvel to kill off such a classic Avenger in the same movie he's introduced in. But perhaps they felt they needed to tell audiences that Avengers CAN DIE. No doubt Avengers director Joss Whedon will get a lot of flack for Pietro's early demise. But the truth is, Marvel wouldn't allow it if they weren't OK it, or maybe they even suggested it. And if you're one for speculating...could Quicksilver be resurrected via the Infinity Gauntlet? Or through any other means? It would be a very "comic book" thing to do.
Until next time, True Believers ....
-Lando McFly
